How a festive word for finery became the museum benefit and the global charity night, by way of the ballroom, the salon and the season. We tend to think of the gala as a modern creature, a thing of step and repeat carpets, themed dress codes and seven figure fundraising totals.

From the feast-day procession to the first friday art walk, how art has always pulled a neighbourhood out of its houses and into the same room. An exhibition gathers pictures.

How the meeting of author and reader moved from the private inscription to the salon, the stage, the bookshop counter and, at last, the screen. We tend to think of the book signing as a small, almost humble thing, a queue, a felt-tip pen, a few murmured words and a scribbled name on a title page.

How the contest of beauty travelled from the village green and the seaside boardwalk to the floodlit global stage, and what it has always been arguing about. We tend to think of the beauty pageant as a fixed and slightly old fashioned thing, a parade of sashes and tiaras beamed out of some endless twentieth century.

How buying and selling art moved from the medieval marketplace to the salon wall, and finally to the global mega fair. We tend to think of the art fair as a thoroughly modern invention, a creature of private jets, champagne sponsors and dizzying price tags.

How showing art moved from the cloister to the salon wall, and finally to the global biennial. We tend to assume that art has always hung on a wall waiting to be looked at.